The whole squad

DEVGRU SEAL Squad
15mm

The Professionals

OK, I finished them!  This is actually my first fully-painted "real" squad of miniatures (five Riflethings painted over five months doesn't count).  And probably my last, to be honest.  But it was a fun challenge and the results were worth it, I think.

I wish I could say the gangers have a fighting chance here... but no.

Also, dear readers, we've got another addition to the family coming in the spring.  As joyous as this is for me, I expect my posts will become even more sporadic next year.  But I'll try and post some interesting new stuff in the next few months, and keep Painting Agency on your blog feed, because I'll be back :)

Some DEVGRU SEALs... and their "dog"

DEVGRU riflemen and marksman
15 mm

So I painted three of these cool guys to start - two assault types and a sniper.  I tried to stick with "realistic" military colours - pretty drab but with sharp highlights - but they're not based on any specific uniform the US military now uses.  As people have said, they would definitely fit in any current or "mid tech" near-future scenario.

BigDog load-bearing robot
15 mm scale

I felt like my SEALs needed some kind of very-near-futuristic technological support, so I sculpted this guy to carry all their extra gear for blowing things up and shooting at people.  BigDog has received a lot of attention for its impressive ability to walk around in an eerily lifelike fashion while carrying heavy loads.  This version would be roughly donkey-sized IRL.

This was a fun sculpt.  I'm not very good at sculpting anything but pouches, so I just let this take me wherever it ended up.  The fabric protecting the legs saved me from having to do anything too mechanical-looking there, and careful painting hides the irregularities in the rest of the frame.  Overall, I think it's a good dog.

Elite Fighters

DEVGRU ("SEAL Team 6")
15 mm

I don't know what I'm smoking, thinking I'll get all these guys painted.  But at least they're based, so I'll have a go at a couple of them at least.  They're really cool figures, no wonder they've become quite popular as both modern and near-future troops.

Back from the dead...

Narg Freebooter Hero
15 mm

Haven't done much painting lately, but here I am again!  Just finished this neat little guy, a 15mm.co.uk sculpt I originally saw painted up on Spacejacker's blog.  His gun was a bit of a mess so I replaced it with something a bit better: an M-7 Lancer, an energy rifle capable of stopping a rampaging Geth dead in its tracks.  Not, admittedly, my smoothest conversion but it's good enough IMO.

Alien Plantimals
15 mm scale

I made these out of acorn stems I found in Florida.  I thought they'd be perfect for some kind of barnacle/plant-like sessile alien.  The "tongues" are just wire.

"I don't know, those things just freak me out."  "Reeeelax, they suppoooosedly harmless."

Move along, move along...

Prang Constable
15 mm

Yet another Eli Arndt sculpt from 15mm.co.uk.  After seeing Spacejacker's nice paint-up here, this was a figure I had to get.  I suspect this version is vaguely inspired by, of all things, the TV show Space Precinct.  It also occurs to me that with his green flesh and rippled chin he resembles a Skrull, albeit a very fat one.  Nerrrrrrd!

I had the same problem with a blobby, indistinct hand weapon that he did, but picked an easier solution: I removed it.  Now my constable has the traditional space-policeman's electro billy club.

"You're a little out of your jurisdiction, Judge!  Here we believe in 'due process'."

I saw "The Wolverine"...

Artist's impression of about half the film.

The wife took me out to see the new Wolverine film for my birthday.  Without getting into plot too much, this is a solo story about Logan after his self-imposed exile from the X-Men and human society following the death of Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix.

Though it is based on the 80's comic miniseries, what you do not get is this:

... as a film.  Most of the same players are there: Mariko Yashida, Yukio, Lord Shingen, ninjas, the wounded bear etc.  But they are changed substantially in their actions, interactions, alliegances and motivations.  Also, there are (spoilers, highlight to read) the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, a toxic/power-stealing mutant, a fight on top of a speeding bullet train, a freakin' giant robot samurai, and Wolverine losing his metal claws... but growing back his organic ones. I rather missed the more pronounced good girl/bad girl contrast between Mariko and Yukio from the comic, it paralleled the two sides of Logan's character. Here the women are as close as sisters (and that's nicely done), and Yukio helps Logan as much out of loyalty to the Yashidas and her best friend as anything else.  And as reviewers seem to have noticed, it can't seem to decide if it's an action drama about a character tormented by his own inner nature... or a summer blockbuster spectacle with the requisite over-the-top special-effects-driven finale.

But I liked it anyway, and if you like Wolverine, you probably will too.

(Hmm, I should re-paint that Clix figure some time...)

Straight Outta Quantico

FBI Special Agents
15 mm

We just got back from a much-needed week's vacation on lovely Manitoulin Island, and so... it's time to post something cool I've been sitting on for a while here.

I was lucky enough to get first crack at painting these new releases from Khurasan.  One agent demands scientific rigor, the other allows himself to explore extreme possibilities.  Together, they're a doggedly unstoppable truth-seeking duo, even if they're always stopped short of actually finding it.

Anyway, on to the sculpts.  Holy crap, so tiny!  These are easily as finely sculpted as "Dave and Desiree", and perfectly proportioned.  There were a few pesky double mold lines that took some care to remove, but overall prep was not bad.  I didn't even try to remove the attached bases, as I was scared that I'd snap them off at the ankles; instead I embedded them in the middle of washer-shaped plastic pieces so the street surfaces didn't bulge up.

Conspicuously absent from these figures: powerful flashlights, yappy Pomeranian, implied pornographic VHS collection, or creepy living black oil.  Present: 90's style ladies' pantsuit.

"Wait, I think I heard something..."

"What's in the boxes, Reg?"